


Till the end of the line...

by babygirl2332



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Steve Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 10:40:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22234789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babygirl2332/pseuds/babygirl2332
Summary: Steve goes to look for Bucky after the nightmare that was Project Insight, not knowing what he will find or in what condition Bucky will be in. He just knows that the for the first time since he woke up from the ice that he no longer felt frozen.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Kudos: 23





	Till the end of the line...

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, first time posting on this site but I'm hoping people will find some entertainment from this story. I don't have a beta reader so if anyone wants to offer to help I'm open to the idea. This story will forget everything that happened after Captain America: Winter Soldier. I want our boys to get their dues and a happy ending that will be earned.

Till the end of the line…

Steve stood frozen in the crowd, it had been 518 days since Bucky had pulled him out of the river. It took him a week to get out of the hospital(basically he walked out) and then the meeting with Fury, Nat, and Sam. There Bucky stood in the middle of a farmers market talking easily with several of the vendors in this small Romania town. 

As he stood and watched with hitched breath, Bucky had an air upon him that threw him back to before the war. The cocky smile and shine in his eyes show a brilliance he thought might have been lost to Hydra forever. His hair long enough to put in a top knot and he had lost some of the bulkiness from their last fight. Not to say he would call him slim the gray jeans still held tight to thick muscular thighs as the light blue peacoat still held on the strong shoulders. Black leather gloves stretched tight over his knuckles which wasn’t out of place in the late fall day.

As he moved forward to try and engage him, he paused and thought to himself, ‘Do I have the right to disturb this peace. He’s found this sense of peace and happiness on his own”. He knows Bucky has a small apartment and even seemed to be friendly with a couple of his neighbors. Steve allowed the tears that had gathered to fall as he spoke, “I’m sorry Buck, this is the end of the line”. 

Turning quickly away from the happy scene he missed Bucky’s frantic eyes searching the crowd and his confusion. Steve took the black beanie and covered his hair that was dyed black along with the full beard he had grown As he walked away allowing his shoulders to slump and taking a relaxed posture that he learned to fake a long time ago, he gave a watery smile.

He made his way quickly to a small cafe that he agreed to meet Wanda at.Wanda the tiny spit fire of a young woman he had met and saved from Hydra. Maybe it was guilt that led him to free her, her story was a little bit too familiar. Lost her mother and father to a cause not their own, and later lost her brother to the experiments that made them.

Getting lost in the memories that lead up to this point he allowed his mind to go on autopilot... 

He and Sam had started off together, taking the folder that Nat offered with a warning, and started in the states. They figured it would be easier for Bucky to find a safe house in the US then to try and leave the country immediately. It was fairly easy to ask Jarvis and Tony to help decipher the Russian and to help sort through the files Nat leaked after the Project Insight catastrophe..

It was simple enough to start to burn through the North American bases. Leaving a lot of burnt buildings behind and with every computer hacked thanks to mostly Jarvis, but he will begrudgingly admit Tony was helpful in creating a simple hacking program for them to gather more intel. Just plug in the thumb drive, run a simple program and instant access. Though they had to wade through a lot of junk and more information that was useless. Once they were done with the US bases that took less than a month it was a free for all. The information that they were gathering had too many possible leads. 

Some bases held more information on Bucky, how they tortured him, took their time in breaking him. Mental, physical, and emotional torture nothing was off limits for Hydra. Medical procedures being performed while Bucky was awake, them connecting the first prototype arm. Sound deprivation, sleep deprivation, starvation were just the beginning. The god forsaken chair that was Hydra’s greatest accomplishment for erasing him.

Nat’s warning couldn’t prepare them for the true depravity, the Winter Soldier truly became the fist of Hydra. It took them close to ten years to completely break Bucky...

Just after they hit the 4 month mark and they were back at the tower to take a small break did Steve truly see how run down and ragged Sam had become. The dark circles, the sluggish fighting from too many nights changing safe houses and tracking someone that had managed to remain a ghost for 70 years. The sad looks given every time a lead came up empty.

They were waiting for Toni’s new round of fake id’s and travel papers and accounts they could use to try and stay hidden for as long as possible. Steve knew he could no longer ask Sam to help so he recruited Jarvis to come up with a new plan.

Steve was alone for once on his floor of the tower, “Jarvis, are you there?”. Steve still felt slightly weird talk to nothing but air but knew Jarvis would answer promptly. In a way the calm tone and unusual emotional AI made Steve calm when he should be the opposite with his thinking, 

“Yes, Captain Rogers. How may I be of assistance?” The tone of voice always put Steve at ease. “I know Tony is working on a new batch of id’s and cards for us to use. I’m asking for a personal favor and I will explain everything to you but please hear me out… I need a set of cards and ids that Tony can’t trace and Sam won’t be needing his made…”

As he walked quickly back to the cafe the memories of his long talk with Jarvis replayed in his mind. He went into feelings that no one knew except the one person he was trying to find. He explained everything the plan required and how he was planning to make it work.

He broke every wall he had built up over the past few years, the ones even Nat couldn’t break down or look beyond. He laid his soul out to an AI, that while it seemed to be human was not. He knew the AI was fiercely loyal to Tony and that this would all be for not but what else did he have to lose. 

“I can’t keep asking Sam to continue to follow dead leads and a ghost, this is too personal. He had a life before this, a good life helping those in need. I know he says this is his choice and I want to honor it but…” Steve grabs his hair in both hands frustration hums under his skin. His skin feels like it’s crawling and he can’t sit he has to move.

“I need to finish this by myself and I can’t,” Steve walked to the wall of the floor to ceiling windows tears stained his face his knees let go and he fell to the floor. Finally letting all the emotions he tried to bury deeper than the Valkyrie had sank.

“I failed...I failed everyone. I said I wouldn’t stop until all of Hydra was either dead or captured,” he chokes out and he knows his voice is barely a whisper but Jarvis wouldn't have an issue hearing him. “If I hadn’t willing gone down in the Arctic maybe I could have prevented this. I have to finish this, alone, “ Steve stopped for a moment, the hesitation was telling, he knew he couldn’t keep anything hidden if he was to convince the AI. “Everything that happened to Bucky was my fault. If I hadn’t given up when I thought he died, when I thought I didn’t have anything left.”

“I love him, and I never told him. Back then.. back then it was wrong, could get you killed if the wrong person found out. I stayed silent because at least I could have him as a friend or brother. It was enough, but seeing him like I did on the bridge and helicarrier dead eyed. I always at least had Buck, and they took him away. They took everything that made Buck unique, stripped that cocky half smile and bright eyes. His quick wit and joking nature,” Steve paused for a minute to try and catch his breath, it felt like was going to have another asthma attack. "I saw how he was affected after Azzano, I should have sent him home. I was weak and selfish. I knew.. I know I depended too much on him. Shell shock, battle fatigue, soldier's heart and, PTSD we knew so little, so many names for something we didn't understand. we were always told to just move forward the next mission was always more important. "

“Javis you have seen the footage, he was broke apart piece by piece. Hell even Tony has said he wouldn’t have survived the first month.” Steve knew he couldn’t hide anything from Tony, including the 1991 mission to assassinate Howard and Maria Stark. He was worried about Tony losing it and jumping to conclusions.

Tony surprised him when the footage came up and watched it. You could see the anger and loss in his eyes, but also sadness and pain he didn’t understand.

When Tony spoke it honestly made him jump, “Jarvis, find everyone associated with the Winter Soldier program. Ripe the files apart, dissect every lead and every person even remotely associated. I want every name I don’t care if they are lowly paper pusher to the president if he is involved.” Steve stepped away but opened his mouth to try and talk to Tony.” Tony...”

“Stop Steve, this is personal now, I will take everyone associated with this program down. However I can, and I promise we will bring your Bucky home.” Tony stopped and his hands were shaking, “They took a man that my father called friend and twisted his mind to the point he didn’t even recognize him. It took a beating and you almost dying to break the what Hyfra thought was perfect combo of brainwashing and torture. I can’t say I will be able to welcome him immediately but I will not hold him responsible for Hydra’s crimes.” Tony walked out the door and Steve allowed himself to take a deep breath after he realized he had been holding it. This all happened shortly after Sam and he had come back.

“Captain, you know your friends will try and track you and won’t stop. They will…”, if it was possible he hard the AI sigh, “ Really Captain Rogers, you know they are going to use me to try and track you and you want me to lead them away.” 

Steve smirked, “No Jarvis, I want you to lead them directly to me”.

Steve shook himself as he stopped in front of the tiny cafe, and looked in through the window to find Wanda, sitting at a table tucked near the back of the cafe, with good sights of all the exits and her back to the wall. It was both refreshing to know she could take care of herself and it also weighed heavy on his heart that she had to learn these skills so young.

He took a moment to allow a small amount of joy to enter his heart that he could already feel freezing again. He truly hadn’t felt like the ice had left him until he saw Bucky’s face and felt the missing piece finally slipped into place.Wanda also helped, she was frighteningly strong but also so vulnerable. He had started to find family in the Avengers, but it was a different bond. 

Wanda looked directly at him and held up a coffee for him and he lifted his phone to show her he needed just another minute. His latest burner phone that held only two numbers, Wanda and Jarvis. He only had to wait for a moment before Jarvis’ calm voice was heard. “Captain Rodgers, this is a surprise to hear from you so soon.”

Steve let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, “Jarvis, it’s time, send the team to the safe house in Belfast, Ireland.”


End file.
